Blue Economy And Socio-Economic Development In Nigeria

Economic development is crucial in contemporary societies as it deals with the improvement of the standard of living of individuals and communities. It involves raising the level of economic productivity, creating employment opportunities, improving access to basic services, and reducing poverty and inequality. This study examined the effect of blue economy on socioeconomic development using time series data from 1980 to 2023. The Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique was applied and the results showed that Aquaculture production and fisheries production were positively related to unemployment, implying that a one-unit increase in their activity will result in a substantial increase in employment growth over the long run. A unit increase in unemployment will also result in an increase in poverty in the long-run. On the other hand, government expenditure and RGDP showed a negative relationship implying that a decrease in both will increase unemployment. The study concluded that expansion in aquaculture operations and fisheries production can generate demand for various goods, services, and inputs, stimulating economic activity and creating employment opportunities. Thus, the study recommended that deliberate harnessing of the ocean resources as well as investment in the robust sector of the blue economy was pertinent and that policies that will support and promote maximization of the blue economy should be developed as well in other for Nigeria to shift its dependency on the depleting oil reserves and begin to explore other marine resources abundantly available.